Mayor Page looks to bring all commercial projects to DRB again

The Mount Pleasant Planning Commission will hear a recommendation from the Planning and Development Committee that unanimously approved a requirement that all proposed new commercial buildings would have to go to the Design Review Board for approval.

The Design Review Board used to be mandatory, but a previous elected officials removed it from the ordinance requirements several years ago at the request of the development community. The goal was to make the process more efficient.

Currently developers have the option to have the town staff sign off on projects.

Mount Pleasant Mayor Linda Page brought the issue back to the forefront to give residents a chance to weigh in before a project is approved rather than after finalized plans come to light.

Committee members backed Page's push to have all new commercial building plans go before the town's Commercial Design Review Board.

“I want you all here in town hall from the beginning,” Page told members of the committee and the public who attended the meeting Monday. “We are giving you back part of the process.”

The seven member panel is appointed and remain as active members, but have not had to meet to discuss issues for projects such as architecture and landscaping.

The Planning Commission will hear the proposed recommendation in July, host a public hearing, and send it on to the full Town Council for approval.

The Commercial Design Review Board meets at 5 p.m. the last Wednesday of each month, unless otherwise noted in the Annual Meeting Schedule.

According to the town's website, “In order to maintain the sense of place of Mount Pleasant, all new commercial construction, remodeling and alteration activity must be approved through the commercial design review process. The design review process establishes a systematic and uniform review procedure for proposed construction based on the design review guidelines. Owners are encouraged to involve design professionals in the design of projects for improved design quality and assistance to project owners in interpreting design review guidelines. Design professionals may include a registered architect, landscape architect, civil engineer and other engineering disciplines as needed or required by building code.”

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